Role Stress: A Career Stage Comparison

Based on the premise that the individual's perception of the work roles differs across career stages, several studies have shown that role stress also differs. The main purpose of this study is to investigate if moderating variables like motivation, locus of control, and self-efficacy would also impact stress-outcome relationships differently across career stages. Multiple moderator regression analysis was used to analyze the data collected from respondents belonging to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Tamil Nadu Cadre. The findings of the study indicated a significant difference in the moderating role of the personality variables across career stages. The main implication is that organizations may have to design specific stress intervention programs based on the nature of role stressors experienced in each of the career stages. An effort to strengthen personality variables that act as positive moderators must also be made an integral part of the stress intervention programs.